University of Georgia

With a new year getting into full swing, now is a more perfect time than ever to reflect on the smashing success that was Camp Kesem “Under the Sea!” Eighty-five awesome campers joined us at Camp Blue Ridge for a fun-filled week in June that is sure to go down in the books as our […]

Our Staff

Camp Kesem UGA is run by a dedicated team of college students. General questions for our staff may be directed to uga@campkesem.org

Executive Board Members

Gump – Co-Executive Director

Harnessing the eternal powers of her spirit animal, Jimmy Fallon, Gump is both the biggest Tom Hanks fan you will ever meet and a world renowned cheesecake connoisseur. When she isn’t on a quest to explore all the corners of the earth, she can be spotted making pic-stitches of her favorite titles off of the Academy’s “1000 Films to See Before You Die” and jamming out to Bruce Springsteen. Click here for the donation page of Carrie “Gump” Clemens.

Zuko – Co-Executive Director

As Katy Perry once said “California girls, we’re undeniable”, and Zuko is no exception. Hailing from the Golden Coast, Zuko earned her name playing Danny Zuko in a performance of “Grease.” When she’s not acting, she’s busy boycotting pork, ham, bacon, etc. Why, you ask? Because pigs are her favorite animal. So much so that her favorite book is Charlotte’s Web, she’s got Porky the Pig on speed dial, and has purchased an impressive amount of memorabilia from the Piggly Wiggly. Th-th-th-that’s all folks! Click here for the donation page of Shelby “Zuko” Starratt.

Beluga – Development Coordinator

Some say a man is defined purely by the company he keeps, which in Beluga’s case is our awesome Camp Kesem family, so he’s off to a good start, but Beluga possesses several other astoundingly impressive skills that put him over the top. He’s recently retired from his many years in the Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra, where he left audiences in tears from his sweet kazoo melodies. Among his other assets are his toned legs – his calves alone are insured for 50,000 simoleons – and his vast knowledge of narwhal behavior and other whale science. Click here for the donation page of Thomas “Beluga” Bestul.

Puffin – Development Coordinator

Modern science claims that humans are 70% water, but the human marvel that is Puffin defies all facts previously established. Curious about her own biological composition, she enlisted the help of her nursing school friends to perform some tests which ultimately confirmed she is equal parts diet coke and mexican cuisine. When she had them double check just to be safe, they found that she’s also about 10% Beyoncé. This news came as a surprise to us; we just assumed she was a semi-aquatic bird. Click here for the donation page of Lainey “Puffin” Saunders.

Stitch – Development Coordinator

Champion of all “Hey, Check Out My Scar” competitions nationally, Stitch earned his name from an impressive set of fifty stitches on his head. His passion for all things outdoors and adrenaline pumping, such as zip lining above the rainforest in Costa Rica and shredding the slopes in Colorado, probably foreshadows the possibility of more stitches in the future. Luckily his mantra remains “You Only Live Once”, so Stitch’s granola lifestyle won’t stop any time soon.

Stallion – Development Coordinator

Every artist has his/her own medium. In Stallion’s case, this medium is cupcakes. Critics call her “Julia Child on Red-Bull” as she has built several massive sculptures of whales, Karl the caterpillar, and more importantly her impressive array of replicas modeled after Greco-Roman classics. She is currently underway on building Michelangelo’s “David”, but she ran out of buttercream frosting. So she’s opted for watching and reciting Remember the Titans on repeat by candlelight instead. Click here for the donation page of Emily “Stallion” Cissel.

Gravy – Operations Coordinator

Need a table for two? At only the swankiest of swank eateries in town? Well never fear, because Gravy ALWAYS has an in for you at the Waffle House. A simple man isn’t capable of achieving such a massive feat, and Gravy’s skills at Mario Kart, his backpacking ventures through Europe, and his ability to construct whatever your heart desires out of cardboard make Gravy anything but a simple man. He’s king of the Jellyfish song, Master of the winking game, and everyone’s favorite “Dood”. Click here for the donation page of Justin “Gravy” Valle.

Meatball – Operations Coordinator

You say he’s got a chip on his shoulder? Think again, because as a matter of fact Meatball has a metal plate holding his left collarbone together. This special skeletal accessory gives him more than enough inspiration to fulfill his destiny as mountain man/ pastry chef/ marine biologist (he’s currently neck deep in research which denies the existence of narwhals), but on a good day he’s dining at the Cheesecake Factory, eating the same meal he’s ordered for about 14 years. Click here for the donation page of Chris “Meatball” Birdsey.

Java- Operations Coordinator

Need to borrow a book? Java is your girl. Her collection of mankind’s most timeless tales, not including her equally impressive collection of twilight fan fiction, span most of her shelf space in her home. Her favorite color is blue, so much so she’s recorded her own rendition of “Paint it Blue”, and plays it proudly on her way to her bimonthly viewing of the Medieval Times dinner and show! Click here for the donation page of Haley “Java” Vale.

Rascal – Outreach Coordinator

Soccer star extraordinaire, Rascal’s nicknames on the field range from baby camel to Sasquatch due to her long-legged nature. Perhaps one of the most interesting fields of study out of any other member of the Executive Board, Rascal is paying twice as much tuition money as anybody else, purely to be able to count by fives forwards, backwards, sideways, and even in her sleep. Or it might be to attend pharmacy school. We’re pretty sure it’s the first one, though. When she’s not playing soccer or counting, Rascal can be found watching “The Little Rascals” for the millionth time on VHS.Click here for the donation page of Jessica “Rascal” Ringler.

Supreme – Outreach Coordinator

World’s biggest fan of Cheezits and “American Horror Story: Coven,” Supreme expresses her adoration of Julia Roberts by reading three or four pages of “Eat Pray Love” monthly, like she’s been doing for the past three years. To expand her mind and broaden her horizons, Supreme passes many hours on her Nintendo Gamecube, aggressively finishing and restarting the Simpsons “Hit and Run” video game. But fear not, for she plays this game in a very niveau fashion, by obeying all traffic signals and cruising just below the imaginary speed limits. Click here for the donation page of Sabrina “Supreme” Mackey.

Riggins – Outreach Coordinator

Clear eyes, full hearts, CAN’T LOSE! When she’s not busy being Tim Riggins’ biggest fan, Riggins sometimes takes a break from her fangirling to catch frogs, an obsession that originated from an unfortunate childhood incident with the popular computer game, Frogger. Seeing how much trouble those pixelated frogs had dodging traffic, Riggins dedicated her life to preventing any real life atrocities from occurring. She also has no rhythm, whatsoever. Like, none at all. Luckily, this hasn’t stopped her from both singing and dancing to Aaron Carter’s top hits nonstop. Click here for the donation page of Jennie “Riggins” Racher.

Lemon- PR/Marketing Coordinator

An aspiring comedy writer, Lemon spends her time binge watching 30 Rock in its entirety and writing extremely long fan letters to Tina Fey. She’s also in a “v committed” relationship with Willy’s famous cheese dip and dreams of one day owning a fox as her pet, claiming she was once named “Prances With Foxes” in a past life. At camp, Lemon loves nothing more than singing “Tarzan” at the top of her lungs – that is, except for skits! Click here for the donation page of Piper “Lemon” Ruhmkorff.

Oz- PR/Marketing Coordinator

Way on down the yellow brick road, we ran into Oz, which was not surprising in the slightest due to his horrible sense of direction paired with his unquenchable thirst for exploring. He speaks French, owns a timeshare in the back room of his local Taco Bell, and wishes there were someone who loved watching the Wizard of Oz as much as he does (an impressive 175 times total in his 19 years on earth). Click here for the donation page of Ethan “Oz” Gallagher.

Breezy – Volunteer Coordinator

You may think that Breezy is merely a Zooey Deschanel look-alike whose ringtone is the “Toast Song,” but that hardly scratches the surface of this well-versed expert of children’s movies. Breezy studied abroad in Ghana for six weeks this summer, where after her studies concluded, she was sure to tell the locals all about her love of Chick-fil-a and “How to Train Your Dragon,” and that one time she went hang gliding. Click here for the donation page of Madison “Breezy” Dooley.

Shrimp – Volunteer Coordinator

A representative of a galaxy far far far away (Florida), Shrimp has many titles under her belt. She was crowned “Lil’ Miss Bubba Gumbo” in 1998, blowing away the competition by twirling her baton to “C’est La Vie” by European pop sensation B*Witched. She’s set a record for the most time spent watching videos of pugs running up flights of stairs out of anyone else in the region, she would have the national title if it weren’t for a Ms. Bertha Collins from Akron, OH who beat her record by a mere 30 seconds. Finally, Shrimp also played college soccer for approximately 2.67 weeks, setting yet another record. Click here for the donation page of Liba “Shrimp” Buchanan.

Popeye – Volunteer Coordinator

The only student at UGA who doesn’t get GroupMe notifications, Popeye still nurses her unhealthy addiction to Flappy Bird, and tries to beat her personal record at least twice every six hours. Her main source of brain food is her omelettes, and she’s recently published a book of her signature omelette recipes themed after her favorite Taylor Swift songs titled “Omelette You Finish, but First, Time for Breakfast.” We’re sure more than a couple of them include spinach.Click here for the donation page of Ashley “Popeye” Thomas.

Goose – Campus Founder

Goose is famous for her ability to multitask; she can text in her sleep and watch entire TV shows in the blink of an eye (once, instead of studying, she watched 4 entire seasons of “How I Met Your Mother” during finals week). She prefers to dedicate her time doing more important things, for example: doing arts and crafts, learning how Excel works, and rereading the entire Harry Potter series 6 times. She loves playing the Animal Game at camp, during which she usually picks the giraffe (her favorite animal).

Honey – Campus Founder

There are only two things that Honey loves as much as Camp Kesem: coffee and costumes. If this information made you guess that early mornings are Honey’s least favorite thing about camp and theme days at camp are Honey’s most favorite thing about camp, you guessed right! She also enjoys any silly repeat-after-me song that comes with a dance routine. Her current favorite is “It’s a Sixties Party.” Honey’s claim to fame is that she once danced on-stage with Britney Spears.